What is the best promo to pick when booking Breakaway Cruise

[LuvTheSea14]

I Am planning to go on the Breakaway next summer. I was going to pick the Ultimate Dining Plan Promo because I thought it was for all seven nights but my travel agent says it is only four nights of dinners. Is the Beverage Plan Promo for the entire cruise or is that just for a certain amount of nights? Also is the daily service charge really $18 dollars a day per person? Maybe I should pick that. Sorry so many questions. Thanks in advance

[Demonyte]

UBP is for the whole cruise. Service charge is $13.50pppd for regular cabins.

[NYcapt]

Do you plan on drinking a moderate amount of alcohol? Im going with a younger group of partiers. We all got the unlimited beverage package so we weren't racking up high bar bills.

[LrgPizza]

I Am planning to go on the Breakaway next summer. I was going to pick the Ultimate Dining Plan Promo because I thought it was for all seven nights but my travel agent says it is only four nights of dinners. Is the Beverage Plan Promo for the entire cruise or is that just for a certain amount of nights? Also is the daily service charge really $18 dollars a day per person? Maybe I should pick that. Sorry so many questions. Thanks in advance

 

 

No, service charges are $13.5 per person each day.

 

If you drink alcohol, the UBP is a no-brainer. You will have to pay 18% gratuity on the regular price of the package, but will still come out ahead of you have 8 or 9 drinks the entire cruise.

Edited August 4, 2015 by LrgPizza

[ColinIllinois]

If you go to the Promo page you will find a link at the very bottom of the page that is the Terms and Conditions. Take a few minutes to read EXACTLY what you are getting and it will help you to make up you mind on what is best for you.

 

Enjoy.

[Cauzneffct]

No, service charges are $13.5 per person each day.

 

If you drink alcohol, the UBP is a no-brainer. You will have to pay 18% gratuity on the regular price of the package, but will still come out ahead of you have 8 or 9 drinks the entire cruise.

 

 

We went with the free DSC because (a) I'm a moron who was looking at the "full value" vs. "most value," and (b) my wife doesn't drink much.

 

DSC for 7 days would be $94.50

UBP @ 18% for 7 days would be $68.04.

 

So if you plan on drinking more than $94.50 worth of alcohol over 7 days, go with the UBP.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Cauzneffct

[thatjoeguy]

We went with the free DSC because (a) I'm a moron who was looking at the "full value" vs. "most value," and (b) my wife doesn't drink much.

 

DSC for 7 days would be $94.50

UBP @ 18% for 7 days would be $68.04.

 

So if you plan on drinking more than $94.50 worth of alcohol over 7 days, go with the UBP.

 

Actually, since you now have to pay the grats for the UBP, you'll have to drink $137.75 pre 18% gratuity or $162.54 post 18% gratuity per person in order to come out ahead with the UBP.

[Seago2]

I booked 10/11 last night with the UDP. Who knew it only meant four days? Doesn't "U" signify unlimited? Oh well, no biggie, I reserved Manhattan for the three days in port but it was still a surprise.

[Demonyte]

I booked 10/11 last night with the UDP. Who knew it only meant four days? Doesn't "U" signify unlimited?

 

No, "U" in all NCL package name abbreviations is short for "Ultimate".

[Cruise4Real]

No, service charges are $13.5 per person each day.

 

If you drink alcohol, the UBP is a no-brainer. You will have to pay 18% gratuity on the regular price of the package, but will still come out ahead of you have 8 or 9 drinks the entire cruise.

 

LOL, we meet again on another UBP thread.

 

Let's see if your math is correct. OP could pick free DSC, that would represent a savings of $94.50. Or they could pay an extra $68.04 (18% on UBP) and receive free drinks for the whole cruise. So the cost (direct and opportunity) of picking UBP comes to (94.50 + 68.04 =) $162.54. This equates to roughly 16 drinks for the week or close to double the number of drinks you suggested would make it "pay." Most drinkers could do this without too much trouble -- as you say a "no-brainer" (though perhaps not quite as much of one as you thought).

 

A problem might be if one half of the couple drinks and the other doesn't. The drinker in this case now has to consume over 30 drinks in a week. This jumps the calculation up toward only working for "moderate to heavy" drinkers. If you really only like a couple per day and the other half doesn't drink at all, one of the other choices is likely better.

 

I don't see why they have even bothered to include the 4 night specialty dining package in "competition" with free DSC for the current promo. You really have to be pretty feeble at math to pick that one, especially given they whack you 18% for the "service charges." (Or as another poster indicated, misunderstood what NCL means by "U.") Even if you didn't have to pay the 18% on the four nights of specialty dining, free DSC is a better deal.

[Cruise4Real]

I booked 10/11 last night with the UDP. Who knew it only meant four days? Doesn't "U" signify unlimited? Oh well, no biggie, I reserved Manhattan for the three days in port but it was still a surprise.

 

I'm pretty sure I've read on here that people have been able to get their promo changed. Free DSC gives you $94.50 in value. 4 nights of specialty dining gives you $74.00 in value (you pay the 18 percent whether you get the four nights by promo or you pay). Times 2 passengers and you are letting $41.00 slip through your fingers. To me that would be worth making a phone call for.

[Seago2]

No, "U" in all NCL package name abbreviations is short for "Ultimate".

 

 

Ah. Thank you.

[Seago2]

I'm pretty sure I've read on here that people have been able to get their promo changed. Free DSC gives you $94.50 in value. 4 nights of specialty dining gives you $74.00 in value (you pay the 18 percent whether you get the four nights by promo or you pay). Times 2 passengers and you are letting $41.00 slip through your fingers. To me that would be worth making a phone call for.

 

 

I totally agree and I'm going to call later. I don't drink so UBP is out. DSC seems like the way to go.

[timmo44]

The UBP certainly saved us most cash when we paid full price for it a while back. Worth every penny. What I liked most about it was that we could and did try drinks that we would not have if we were paying for each one. Quite good fun trying cocktails rather than just ordering beers to be safe.

 

The UBP is also good value but some nights we are happy to go with the buffet or O'Sheehans (and now that the Cirque/Imaginarium dinner show is no longer ever free) so wouldn't get our moneys worth compared to the beverage package.